Cable-railway gripping apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L' E. C. BUCK.

CABLE RAILWAY GRIPPING APPARATUS. N0. 391,878.

Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

WITNESSES N. versus mwwuma pu. Washington, 0 c,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-SheetZ. E. G. BUCK.

CABLE RAILWAY GRIPPING APPARATUS.

Patented Oct. 30, 1888.

WITNESSES we. T m. a

N. PETERs Phmwmhv m' her, wiimnglon, D. C.

lhsrrno STATES ATENT FFlCE...

' EDWIN o. soon, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CABLE-RAILWAY GRIPPING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,878, dated October 30, 1888.

Serial No. 237,697. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 71mg concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN G. BUCK, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Iniprovenient in Cable-Rail way Gripping Apparatus, of which the followingis a true and exact description, due reference being had to the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, and in which similar letters denote similar parts.

My invention has for its principal object a gripping attachment for cable roads which in their route cross other cable roads. My in1- proved apparatus is such as to allow one road to cross the other at grade without releasing the gripping apparatus from the cable upon the other line at the point of passage.

. My invention also consists in novel means to close and release the gripping jaws.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of my improved grip. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 1 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section 011 the line 3 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a View of the cover for cross-cable, showing cover closed, which occurs when being crossed by the grip of cable A. Fig. 5 is a View of the cover for cross-cable, showing cover open.

A represents the cable which is being gripped; B, the crosscable.

G is the floor of the car, to which by any well-known means the grip D is suspended.

a and a are the gripping-jaws. Thesejaws are hinged at a, and are operated by means of the rod (1, which rod can be raised vertically by the cam d rod (2", and lever d, said lever d" having the pawl d, said pawl working in the rack d. The rod d is forced against the projection d on the lower and movable jaw, a, and the jaw is held in more or less contact and grips the cable according to the pressure, the rod 61 being connected to the frame (P, in which the cam (i works.

E and E are two plates, one on each end of the grip. These platesEand E are constructed in two parts, respectively, E and E and E and E. The parts E and E* have on their lower ends the jaws e and c, Fig. 3, which jaws are spread or forced apart by the spring a. The parts and E surround the parts E and .5, and are made wedge-shaped at their lower ends, and are capable of an independent vertical motion upon the parts E and E", the

The gripping-jaws are suspended in the following manner: The jaw a has an I-shaped projection or head, 0 on each end, and these projections or heads are suspended from the parts E and E of the plates E and E by means of the jaws c and c clasping the I shaped pro jection or head c", and thejaws e and e are held against the I shaped projection or head 6 by the wedgeshaped parts ofE and E ofthe plates E and E, respectively, which compress the spring 6 The parts E" and E are suspended by means of the pin e resting against the end of the slot 0 which slot e is in the fixed hollow plate E, the pins 6" and 0 being fixed to the plates E and E. Upon the upper and fixed jaw, a, are the tapering wings F and F, and attached to each of theparts and E on the plates E and E are the tapering wings G and G, tapering oppositely to the correspond ing wings on the fixed jaw.

WVhen the car is moved in the ordinary manner, thejaws and the plates assume the p0sition shown on the right-hand portion of Fig.1. The cable being gripped, the car approaches a cable road running at an angle with it. The cross-cable, which is represented in the drawings by the letter B, strikes the wing F, which causes said cable B to travel up and strike the wing G, attached to the portion E of the plate E, which forces said part E upward, releasing the jaws e and e, and allowing the spring 6 to spread, freeing the jaws c and c from the head 6 of the gripping-jaw a, and the gripping jaws therefore fall below the cross-cable and allow it to pass. WVhen the movement of the cross-cable has caused E to move up to the extent of travel of the pins 6" and c in the slots 6 and c, the parts E and E of the plate E move vertically together, working against the spring H, which is in the interior of the fixed plate E and compressing said spring H. The movement of the plate E is guided by the interior of the fixed plate E, which plate is hollow, as heretofore described. On the rear end of the portion of the plate E is the projecting tongue 9, by means of which the crosscable retains the parts E and of the plate E in an elevated position until the crosscable has entirely passed that portion of the grip. When the cross-cable has entirely passed the plate E-that is, passed beyond the projecting tongue gthe pressure on the spring H is released, and the spring H causes the portions E and E to return downward together until the pin 0" reaches the end of the slot e when the portion E has its independent movement upon the portion E" and again causes the jaws e and c of the part E to clasp the I-shaped projection or head 0 on the jaw a, and the portion E is suspended by the ends of the slots e and a, resting, respectively, against the pins 0 and c of the plate E The rod d is made independent of the projection d, and when another cable road is to be crossed this rod (1 is elevated, so that the cross-cable can pass between the rod (1 and the project-ion d, and the grip is retained closed to the main cable by means of the bed I, placed in the conduits at the crossingpoints, and thus the cable is not released in crossing another cable road. The operation upon the other plate, E, is similar to that heretofore described, and the cross-cable thus passes both plates E and E and the entire gripping apparatus.

In order to avoid the wear upon the crosscable at the point of crossing I can inclose the cable at the crossing-point with a pipeshaped cover, (shown in Figs. 4 and 5,) the up per half, K, of which is hinged. This pipecover is normally held open by the spring 0. When the cable is to be crossed, the wings of the grip strike the cover of the cross-cable, closing it, and thereby avoiding the friction upon the cable, and when the cross-cable is the one operating, the grip, as is well known, lifts the cable above the position it occupies when it is on the pulleys in the conduit when not in use. Therefore when a car, with its grip connected to said cable, approaches a crossing where the cable is provided with a pipe-cover the cable, being lifted by the grip, as heretofore described, is elevated above the hinged portion of the pipe, and therefore the grip passes said cover without striking it.

I do not limit myself to mechanism for operating the grip-jaws, nor to any particular construction of said grip-jaws.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, in combination, gripping-jaws, means to operate said jaws, wings upon the fixed jaw of said jaws, plates to suspend said jaws, said plates being capable of an upward motion off of said jaws,and wings attached to said plates.

2. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, in combination, gripping-jaws, means to operate said jaws,wings upon the fixedjaw of said jaws, plates to suspend said jaws, said plates being capable of an upward movement off of said jaws, wings attached to said plates, and tongues 57, also attached to said plates.

3. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, the plates E and E, said plates each being constructed in two parts, whereby the outer part may have an independent movement upon the inner part, and a spring, II.

4. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, in combination, gripping-jaws,means to operate said jaws, the plates E and E, jaws e and c',arranged within said plates, a projection on the upper gripping-jaw, and spring 6 located between the jaws e and 6', whereby the gripping-jaws may be disconnected from the jaws e e.

5. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, in combination, gripping-jaws and a bed, I, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a cable railway, in combination, a cable, a cover for said cable, the upper part of said cover being hinged and normally open and capable of being closed, so as to cover the cable, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a gripping apparatus for cable railways, in combinatiomthe plates Eand E',said plates being constructed in two parts, E" and E" and E and E, respectively, the plates E and E" having spring-jaws e and e at the ends of said plates E and E", gripping-jaws, projections upon the fixed jaw of said grippingjaws, pins upon said plates E" and E*, slots in the parts and E, a hollow guide-plate, E, a spring, H, in said guide-plate, and a slot in said guide-plate, all constructed and operated substantially as described.

EDWIN O. BUCK.

Witnesses:

XVALTER T. BILYEN, FRANK (Browns. 

